Ivana Bacik, the leader of Ireland’s Labour party, wants to see all gambling ads in the Republic taken down.
The leader of Ireland’s joint-second-largest opposition party (in the Dáil Éireann) shared her thoughts with the Sunday Independent, supposedly prompted to do so by a BoyleSports retail ad in Dublin offering cash deposits and withdrawals without the need for a bank account.
“Labour have called for a ban on gambling ads. In recognition of the harm caused by advertising to those at risk of gambling addiction, other countries have introduced bans on all gambling ads. Ireland should follow suit,” Bacik told the news outlet.
“We know that gambling companies prey on the vulnerabilities of problem gamblers. It is deeply concerning to see companies targeting people with addiction issues. Labour’s senator Mark Wall has called for a ban on all gambling ads, to stamp out this behaviour. We have a serious issue with gambling in this country, and it must be addressed.”
Contacted by the Sunday Independent, BoyleSports said: “All of our customers go through a very strict verification process when opening an online account. We operate robust processes across all our customers’ accounts. Our process is fully in line with all legal and regulatory requirements, and with pending regulation.”
Whilst the operator’s response addressed its online offering rather than the retail one in connection with the above-mentioned advert, alas it is unclear what the Independent’s questions actually were, one thing is for certain – problem gambling is treated with utmost importance by licensed gambling providers by design.
One-sided argument?
Bacik’s comments that accuse gambling companies of ‘preying on the vulnerabilities of problem gamblers’ as something that is matter of fact could be viewed as irresponsible given her position of power, where she knowingly or unknowingly disregards years of international scientific and regulatory work towards developing problem gambling protection policies.
Given her high level of political involvement, it is safe to assume that her statement about Ireland having a “serious issue with gambling” was informed by 2023 data from Ireland’s Economic and Social Research Institute, which put around 3.3% of adults at a serious risk of problem gambling, while 7.1% showed signs of moderate problem gambling behaviours.
Whilst a step in the right direction for informing future policy, these numbers are of course based on estimates derived from self-reported survey responses and not concrete, audited evidence of where the market currently is.
ESRI itself points out the limitations of the study and the caveats of defining problem gambling (PG) and moderate risks.
“There can be considerable variation between individuals classified as having PG,” the report stated.
“For example, an individual who spends little on gambling but nonetheless very often feels anxiety about their gambling, who experiences gambling-caused health problems and feels they may have a problem with gambling, could achieve the same score as an individual who very often bets more than they can afford to lose, tries to win back losses and whose gambling has caused financial difficulty for their family, even if they do not recognise they have a problem or experience any anxiety.
“Hence, further research on the structure of PG among those who score highly is necessary to inform targeted policy interventions.”
Additionally, Bacik’s calls for Ireland to follow in the footsteps of other European countries – many of which like the Netherlands, Spain and Italy have introduced bans on all gambling advertisements for the sake of protecting vulnerable groups – could benefit from examining the impact of these bans.
Previous coverage on SBC News has found time and time again that this might not have the intended effect once implemented, as seen with Italy’s 2019 ‘Dignity Decree’ that drove one in four players to the black market, or in the Netherlands where illegal gambling websites surged in popularity after the visibility of the licensed offers was significantly reduced.
To conclude, opposite to the Labour leader’s doom and gloom portrayal of current circumstances, it could be argued that the Irish gambling market is actually heading in the right direction thanks to the newly-established Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI).
The Gambling Regulation Bill and the GRAI it created have set out a list of policies to maintain this regulatory development, including the Social Impact Levy that will see a dedicated stream of gambling-derived tax being funnelled into problem gambling support efforts.